Ghost Camera Read Online Free PDF Page A

see ghosts milling about the building as they had been at her home. The other part expected the photo to be empty, just a boring, aged house in a boring, aged suburb.
    What was actually in the picture made her shudder. A woman, all pale greys and blacks, was pressed up against the car window. Her hands were splayed against the glass, ending not in fingernails, but in yellowed claws. Thin hair floated about her wrinkled face, and her white, sightless eyes stared intently. Her mouth was open wide in a silent scream, much wider than it ever could have opened in life, and the blackness inside seemed to go on forever.
    Bree grimaced. “Euch. Lovely. I guess at least the camera works.”
    “Right,” she replied automatically, staring at the woman’s dress, which looked incredibly familiar. Her mind turned back to the very first photo she’d taken with the camera. A woman with a shock of white hair had been standing beside the cake table, wearing a dress with a very similar floral print. She couldn’t possibly be the same woman, could she?
    Bree got out of the car and stalked to the boot. “Give me a hand, won’t you?” she yelled, wrestling her picnic basket out.
    Jenine shoved the photo back into the glove box then turned to open the door. She froze. Two hand prints had been left on the glass. Surely it couldn’t be…?
    Bree called her again, and Jenine scooted out of the car as quickly as her feet could move her.
     

     
    Bree had been surprisingly resourceful when setting up her emergency picnic basket, which was stocked with canned soup, packet biscuits and long-life fruit juice. Jenine couldn’t help but imagine it was intended to double as supplies for an apocalypse.
    The large park was shady, and one side overlooked the ocean. They found a tree in a relatively empty corner and unpacked the basket. Bree had brought every type of cutlery imaginable except for a can opener, so they ate the biscuits and drank the juice while watching a group of children play tag at the other side of the park.
    “This is nice,” Jenine said to break the silence. “We haven’t done this for ages.”
    “I know. You’re always too busy with the law books.”
    Jenine choked on her biscuit. “What? When have I ever turned down a chance to hang out? You’re the one who spends all day in your store.”
    “You hardly ever visit me, either.” Bree sighed, throwing herself backwards onto the grass. “You think you’re too good for me now that you’re getting your big ol’ lawyer degree.”
    Jenine took a second to realise her friend was teasing. She laughed. “Solicitor. And you know I love you.”
    “You skipped my last birthday party!”
    “Left early,” she corrected. “I stayed as long as I could. You know I hate crowds.”
    “You didn’t notice when I got my hair cut.”
    “I did, too!”
    “Nearly two weeks after the event, babe.” Bree laughed and poked Jenine’s thigh. “I swear, you’re worse than Travis.”
    Jenine couldn’t stop herself from pouting. “Fine. You got me. I’m a terrible human being and you’re the reincarnation of Buddha.”
    Bree grinned as she rolled onto her stomach. “Don’t sulk. I can’t help it if I’m perfect in every single way.”
    “And very humble, to boot.”
    “You know it.”
    Jenine gazed at the families who were slowly filling up the park for lunchtime. She found herself thinking about their futures, wondering how many of the couples would still be together in twenty years, which of them would die prematurely, and how many would still be talking to each other in a decade. Half, maybe?
    “We’re good friends, aren’t we?” she asked Bree.
    “The best.”
    “I wish we could keep doing this forever.”
    “Who says we can’t?” Bree sat up and wrapped an arm around Jenine’s shoulder. “It’s not like I’d let something silly like mortality get in the way of our friendship.”
    “I was being serious.”
    “Okay.” Bree kicked her feet out in front of